Astronauts Ring In New Year With Some Time Off

While many people on Earth will spend the last hours of 2010
bouncing from party to party, New Year's Eve should be a relatively subdued
affair for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

The six spaceflyers ? three Russians, two Americans and an
Italian ? will have today (Dec. 31) off work, NASA officials said. Saturday and
Sunday will be light as well, with just some routine housekeeping chores
planned. During this time, the astronauts will get a chance to talk to their
families back home, and recharge their batteries in preparation for
a busy 2011.

The crewmembers will undoubtedly spend a fair bit of the
down time gazing at Earth from the station's Cupola module, which is studded
with windows.

"Most nights, I would say, after work we go
there," NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said in a video interview with
reporters on Thursday (Dec. 30). "Looking
down at Earth is simply amazing, and I'm not sure I will ever, ever get
tired of it."

Coleman, who arrived at the
space station on Dec. 17, said she also plans to devote some time to
practicing her flute, which she has largely neglected up to this point.

"It's just so busy, just learning how to work up here
and making sure that you're getting all your work done. I haven't been able to
break my flute out yet," Coleman said. "I'm hoping to do that this
weekend."

Today's holiday is the second in quick succession for the
crewmembers, who
also got Christmas Day off. The international group of spaceflyers
celebrated Christmas with a "family dinner" and a few presents,
astronauts said.

"The Russians actually gave us as a gift some little
chocolates, so we had plenty of things to celebrate," Italian astronaut
Paolo Nespoli, who also reached the station on Dec. 17, said.

Coming up next week, half of the crew will
celebrate another Christmas holiday. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates
Christmas according to the Julian calendar, marking the event on Jan. 7 rather
than Dec. 25. So, the three cosmonauts aboard the station will have another
off-duty day then.

But Coleman, Nespoli and American Scott Kelly ? commander of
the current crew ? won't get two Christmas holidays. Instead, they'll be
working on Jan. 7, NASA spokeswoman Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters, of Johnson Space
Center in Houston, told SPACE.com.

To commemorate the New Year, NASA released a free 2011
calendar featuring the International Space Station, which can be downloaded on
the agency's website.